Internal waste management can be organized by the typical Plan-Do-Check-Act-loop:
• Measure the amount of WEEE available in a company, regularly check the containers for residual waste, make a plan on WEEE collection including communication to personnel. This usually has more impact when other residual materials are collected (plastics, wood etc.) (Plan);
• Place collection bins/containers for WEEE. Communicate to personnel. Organise collection of WEEE (Do);
• Measure/check the amount of WEEE collected and check containers residual waste. (Check);
• Adjust and improve plan if necessary based on measurements (Act).
Case VU Amsterdam
At the Vrije Universiteit (VU) in Amsterdam (The Netherlands) office furniture and ICT-equipment are donated to charity organisations. Other WEEE is bought by a waste collector (Icova). At this moment (June 2017) an overview of equipment of less than 2 years old is available, but not of older equipment. A complete overview at the VU helps to make an estimate on the value of the assets and the most optimal method of discarding. In the procurement, environmental aspects (“green office”) becomes more important, which includes environmental responsibility in discarding WEEE.